what is grief, if not love persevering?

i love you.

i will love you until the moon disappears and the stars begin to dull. i will love you as a bee loves nectar, as humans love honey. i love you as the iceberg loved the titanic, as the passengers loved the lifeboats, and as the ocean loved the shipwreck. i love you as the birdsong loves the dawn, as the flowers love the earth, and as the fruit loves the sun.

i love you as detectives love disguises, and as disguises love to be temperamental, until the disguise is no longer a blessing and the truth comes gasping out into the world.

i still love you, even if you don't know. i will love you until i don't know what love is, so somebody will have to remind me. i will love you in those glimpses of light where i remember, and i will still love you when that light is replaced with darkness. i will love you until the sun becomes dim and the roses wilt. i will love you even if the ocean turns to sawdust and the clouds to dust. i love you as the books love the shelves, and as the shelves love to break, and as the broken pieces love to surprise innocent passers-by through their feet, and as their gasps love to escape into the frosty air, which shouldn't be frosty in the first place; we're inside. i will love you even if slushies turn bright orange or strawberries turn blue.

i would much prefer if you could tell me this too.